"The kingdom of heaven is like
unto a certain king which made a
marriage for his son." Matt. 22:2.

The Jews were first invited to the
great feast, but they made light of
the matter, were more interested in
the farms and merchandise, and a
remnant even persecuted and slew the
servants who carried the invitation;
in consequence of all which "he
sent forth his armies and destroyed
those murderers and burned up their
city." (Ver. 7.)
Then the command
is given: "Go ye therefore into
the highways and as many as ye
shall find bid to the marriage."
(Ver. 9.)
This seems clearly to refer
to the work of the Gospel among
the Gentiles; and by people gathered
from among them "both bad
and good, the wedding was furnished
with guests." (Ver. 10.)

The parables of Jesus about the
"kingdom of heaven," seem always
to refer to the "church militant,"
or to the living mortal phase of the
church; as soon as a man dies he is
no longer represented in the parables,
so the last part of the movement
represented by the parable
would include only the generation
that are "alive and remain."
So the
"harvest" of the parable of tares
and wheat (Matt. 13) relates to those
that "grow together until the harvest,"
which "is the end of the age." (vs. 30 and 39.)
And in the parable of
the virgins, the going in to the marriage,
refers to same act of the last
generation. (Matt. 25.)

The idea of a wedding is often referred
to by the Saviour, but it is
somewhat remarkable that in such
parables the believers are represented
in the attitude of guests, and not
as the bride. This fact has puzzled
some, as Paul speaks of the church
as the "espoused" virgin or prospective
bride; and the Revelator speaks
of the bride made ready as clothed
with "the righteousness of saints."
(Rev. 19:7,8.)
The bride is therefore
composed of saints, (holy ones);
but why then should the last generation
be called guests?
It is certain that
the "wedding garment" is spoken of
as properly belonging to the "guests"
with which the wedding was
furnished.

We suggest a solution, but as disciples
we would gladly receive light
from others.
1st. We understand
the bride is the whole church, dead
and living, raised and glorified.
2d.
That the marriage is the process of
raising and glorifying the church,
or the process of making up his jewels. (Mal. 3:17.)
The making up suggests
a gradual and not an instantaneous
work; as also, "when the
Lord shall build up Zion he shall appear
in his glory." Ps. 102:16.
This doubtless refers primarily to the
restoration of the earthly Jerusalem
during thirty-seven years, or from
1878 to 1914, which, according to
the prophetic arguments, is the last
half of the sounding of the seventh [R58 : page 5] trumpet.
But there are two Jerusalemsan earthly and a heavenly;
a mount that could be touched, and
a mount Zion that could not be
touched. (Heb. 12:18,22.)
We
believe these are related to each other;
the one outward and Jewish, the
other inward and Christian; and
that both are to be built up duringthe same period, "the last trump."
According to the parables of the
"two Dispensations," Christ was due
to enter or come into the office of king in the spring of 1878, the parallel
of his riding into Jerusalem in
fulfillment of "behold thy king cometh;"
and the same king who has
the power to restore the natural Jerusalem,
has the power to build up
the spiritual Jerusalem; and it is
declared that he will reward the whole churchprophets, saints and
them that fear his name, small and
great"during the seventh trumpet,
(Rev. 11:18)the same period in
which it has often been shown that
the earthly Jerusalem will be
restored.

3d. To be in the light when this
process is due is the privilege of the
living generation, and because of
this they are guests. They understand
when he takes to himself his
great power.
"When he had returned
having received the kingdom
he then inspects the guests and rewards them." Luke 19:15,27.
It is evident that the inspection is a
work done in reference to the living,
while they are yet mortal, for two
reasons, first, the reward follows the
inspection, and second the unfaithful
was cast out.

The idea of being cast out of immortality
seems absurd, as the immortal
"cannot die."
The case of
the unfaithful servant cast out seems
the same as the one found among
the guests without a wedding garment,
who shares the same fate.
(Comp. Luke 19:26 and Matt. 22:13.)
From this it appears evident
that "going in to the wedding" is
not the translation of the living into
immortality, but is coming into a
position of expectation, which may
be lost on account of lacking certain
qualifications, represented by
the wedding garment.

The servants gather, but they are
not infallible, they do not know the
heart, and the king sifts out those unfit
for the kingdom.
This inspection
and sifting out we again remark
is after the king comes, and
yet before the "power over the nations"
is given.

The "dead in Christ" have no
part in this light, and therefore not
guests, neither are they subjects of
this inspection or siftingtheir case
was decided before they fell asleep.
Hence Paul could say: "Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown."
When the dead in Christ are raised they are immortal, and when the living
are changed they will be immortal
too, both alike sharing in the position of the glorified church"The Bride, the Lamb's Wife."
If it
be kept in mind that the living are guests while mortal, by being in thelight, there can be no objection we
think to our being guests now and
yet in due time constituting a part
of the Bride, when we put on
immortality.

After the king comes, and inspection is due, it should not be surprising
if the subject of the garment should be uppermost in the minds
of the guests; neither should we be
surprised if there is a sifting out instead
of a gathering in. That many
have passed through a strange test
during the past year is known by
them all, and the work goes on.
Let
none be in haste however to judge
their brethren, the Lord is judge,
and he will decide who is or is not
possessed of the wedding garment.
In another article we may consider
this subject.
J. H. P.